


The Heiress & the Spider

by casuallyimagining



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-05
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-05-02 08:54:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14541171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/casuallyimagining/pseuds/casuallyimagining
Summary: A collection of drabbles detailing Peter Parker's growing relationship with Cecelia Stark, niece of Tony Stark. Featuring a college-aged Peter Parker.





	1. The Best Friday Night

Peter had never considered dating Cecelia Stark because she was so far out of his league, she was playing a different game entirely. She was beautiful, like the sky as the sun just begins to appear on the horizon. And she laughed at his jokes–genuinely laughed, too, not like some of the other girls he knew who giggled politely because it was obvious he was trying to be funny and they felt they had to. Peter thought he could listed to Cecelia laugh forever. It was a breathy half-snort that evolved into a fit of loud and raucous giggles, and her nose would scrunch up, and her eyes would squeeze shut, and she looked so  _happy_  when she laughed, and it made  _him_  feel so happy when she laughed, Peter wished he could bottle that emotion up and keep it with him.

They hung out a lot, and he considered her to be among his closest friends, possibly even his  _best_ friend, and sure, he had thought she had been the most beautiful girl he had ever seen when he saw her hanging around Stark Tower, and he had had a crush on her ever since the day she had formally introduced herself as his TA in the drama class he had taken as an easy elective his second semester in college. But that didn’t mean she felt the same way about him. At least, he didn’t think so. She was a senior, and a Stark and  _important_ , and he was a freshman and, really,  _nobody_. So she couldn’t, right?

_Right?_

He hadn’t expected her to knock on his door that night. When he saw her as she was walking back to her dorm after classes, she had mentioned she had a date with a guy from her French class named Mark and that she wouldn’t be at dinner because she had to get ready. But there she stood in a dress Peter had never seen her in, her hair and makeup done perfectly. When he opened the door, her eyes had lit up, but now, they looked a little sad, and, if he was honest, desperate. 

“H-hey, uh... hey, Cecelia.” Peter leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms.  _But what if that made it look like he didn’t want her there?_  He uncrossed his arms quickly and buried his hands in the pockets of his pajama pants. 

“Are you doing anything tonight?” Her brown eyes flicked down to the floor, to her heels, which were sleek and black and open toed and made her legs look like skyscrapers. Was she nervous? Why would she be nervous?

“I-uh… no. Nope.” Peter cringed internally. He was spending the night watching  _Star Wars_  and finish up his essay for his freshman English seminar. Her eyes met his then, and she smiled a bit. “Did you… did you want to come in?” Cecelia nodded. He stepped aside to let her through the door. “I thought you had that date tonight.”

She was silent. Peter watched as she bent down to slip off her heels. When she finally made eye contact with him again, the sadness was back in her eyes. “He was, ah… turns out he was too busy tonight.” 

“Too busy?” He did his best to hold back a laugh, shutting the door to his room and crossing over to sit on his bed. “What was he doing?” 

Cecelia did laugh, though it was nothing like the laughter Peter was used to hearing. This was short, and sharp, and the pain in it made his heart hurt. “I think her name was Abigail?”

“ _Oh.”_ Peter patted the spot in front of him and she sat down, scooting back so that her back was resting against the wall and her legs stuck out off the edge. “Well… he clearly doesn’t know what he’s missing out on.”

“Thanks, Peter.” Cecelia smiled slightly. “That means a lot.” She glanced around the room, eyes landing on the pile of books and his laptop he had pushed aside to open the door. “I’m ruining your evening, aren’t I?”

“What? No! No, I was just gonna do homework and watch a movie. Trust me, hanging out with you is _much_ better than writing an essay about _Heart of Darkness_.” 

She chuckled. “You have Clarke?” He nodded. “I’m pretty sure she’s been teaching that book since it was published, and she’s the only in the whole school that’s still got it in the syllabus. I think I still have my notes from that class on my laptop. I can send them to you if you’d like.”

“Oh my god, that would be amazing! She-”

“Mumbles the whole lecture! It’s like-”

“What are you even  _saying_?!”

Cecelia’s laughter was infectious, and Peter found himself cackling loudly beside her. They fell into a comfortable silence after that, small conversations popping up here and there, but for the most part, she just sat there on Peter’s bed, close enough where if he stretched, he could touch her shoulder, but far enough away that his laptop could sit between his crossed legs and her outstretched ones. 

They ordered pizza since Cecelia had skipped eating in the dining hall, and Peter put off working on his  _Heart of Darkness_ essay for another night. If he was going to work on homework while Cecelia was there, it was going to be the play analysis that was due soon in drama. He ended up putting  _Star Wars_ on after all, for some background noise while he attempted to write and research. Cecelia sat scrolling through her phone, glancing up to watch certain parts of the movie and chiming in every once in a while when he needed help finding a particular quote or piece of evidence for his analysis.

Eventually, it’s past midnight, and Peter has long since abandoned his essay. They had transitioned into watching  _Revenge of the Sith_ , having gone through the entirety of  _A New Hope_ and  _Empire Strikes Back_. Cecelia sat now beside Peter, her back against the headboard. They talked softly about Tony, and about the Avengers, about Aunt May, and about Peter adjusting to college. It was nice, just sitting there and talking. He had thought holding a conversation with her for this long would be stressful, especially when they were both tucked under his fluffy  _Star Wars_  blanket and her leg was touching his. But the conversation came  _easy_  to him, and he’s  _shocked_. 

And  _yeah_ , they were friends, but Peter had never met a girl as perfect as Cecelia Stark. 

“Hey Peter?” Cecelia’s voice cut through a few seconds’ worth of silence as the Battle of Endor III rages on the TV. Her eyes were in her lap, and she picks at one of her fingernails. “Thanks. For all of this. Thank you for spending your Friday night with me. I’m sorry I just… showed up unannounced.”

Peter laughed. Then, realizing it was rude, he stopped. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh at you. I just… this is the best Friday I’ve had in forever.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Definitely.” He nodded, making eye contact in a moment of sheer bravery. “And Max, or Mike, or whatever his name was, he… he really screwed up. You looked really pretty tonight.” Peter paused, his eyes drifting down to his lap. “You still do.”

Cecelia was silent, and Peter was almost afraid to look up at her. Eventually, though, he was able to gather his courage, and when his eyes met Cecelia’s, she was smiling softly.

“Thank you,” she whispered. For just a moment, her lips brushed against his cheek. Peter could  _hear_  all the blood in his body rush to his face, and he was glad the television and his lamp behind them were the only sources of light in the room, because he was absolutely positive his face was beet red. 

“I… uh… You-You’re welcome.”

Cecelia smiled, reaching up to wipe some lipstick off his cheek with her thumb. “You know, you’re cute when you’re flustered.” And without another word, she turned back to watch the rest of the movie.

Peter stared at her profile in bewilderment. This was definitely the best Friday night he had ever had.


	2. Seeking Approval

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter invites Cecelia over for dinner to meet Aunt May.

When Peter had invited Cecelia to his apartment for dinner over a week ago, he had been calm, confident even. But now that the day had finally arrived, he was  _nervous_. He had never brought a girl home to meet May before, let alone a girl as pretty and kind and amazing as Cecelia. And he could never quite be sure what would come out of May’s mouth around Ned, so he was absolutely dreading the conversations she would attempt to start with this girl, who he wasn’t dating, but he very much wished that he was. 

In his panic, Peter had confined May to her room to get ready. It was better this way, he thought. May could get ready without having to worry about making sure the apartment looked nice, and Peter could make sure everything was  _immaculate_. Their apartment was nice, but he had been to Cecelia’s apartment, and this was definitely  _not_  that. 

 A sharp knock at the door signaled Cecelia’s arrival promptly at six. Peter poked his head into May’s room to make sure she was ready before approaching the door. He took a moment to breathe deeply and smooth out his t-shirt over the waist of his jeans before finally opening it. 

Her dark hair was windblown, and her cheeks and nose were tinged slightly pink thanks to the unseasonably bitter spring winds. Cecelia grinned at him. 

“Hey. How was your day?” Peter stepped aside to let her into the apartment.

She groaned. “I had to sit in on a board meeting, so it went about as terribly as you’d imagine.” Peter smiled sympathetically. “I brought these.” She handed him a small bouquet of daisies and a bottle of wine. 

“You must be Cecelia.” May leaned against the doorframe of the living room.

“Yes!” Peter’s hand flew to Cecelia’s elbow as he ushered her forward toward his aunt. “May, this is Cecelia Stark. Cece, this is my Aunt May.”

For one very long, very tense second, neither of the women said anything. Then, Cecelia extended her hand, a grin blossoming on her face. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

May grabbed the younger woman’s hand and shook it once before pulling Cecelia into a hug. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“I can only imagine,” Cecelia said, laughing.

Peter breathed a sigh of relief. So far, so good.

They ordered take out from the Vietnamese place a few blocks away. Dinner went better than he had ever dreamed it could. May was funny and kind, and only slightly embarrassing. Cecelia was cordial, and seeing some of the biggest parts of his life—home, school, and even, he supposed, the whole Spider-Man thing—intersecting like this made his heart swell.

“So, Cecelia. How’s school going?” May questioned, offering the bag of spring rolls.

Cecelia nodded vigorously. “Great. Really good. Just a few more weeks.”

May looked confused. “Few more…?”

“Graduation,” Peter filled in. “Graduation is May 12.”

“Oh, that’s exciting!” And with that, May launched some half-embarrassing story about Peter’s high school graduation. Cecelia listened with rapt attention, picking at her pho and laughing. Peter tuned it out after a moment. He could only take so much of May’s cheesy reminiscing.

Later that evening, Peter helped May with the dishes. Cecelia had left about fifteen minutes before, and May hadn’t said anything about dinner yet. Peter was nervous. He  _thought_  everything had gone perfectly, but now, with May’s silence, he wasn’t so sure. Peter definitely wasn’t about to breech the subject, though, so he just dried dishes in silence.

Finally, May turned to him, as he put the last of the silverware away. “So,” she began slowly. “What’s going on with the two of you?”

“I… what?”

“She’s  _very_  nice, Peter.” May smiled, patting his cheek. “And I see the way you look at her, and I can’t help but wonder what’s going on there, y’know?”

“Well, I… uh…” Peter sighed. “I don’t know.”

“She’s pretty.” He shrugged, but he could feel his face heating up. “I’m not saying you should force anything, but I mean…” May shrugged nonchalantly before winking suggestively.

Peter laughed. “Yeah. Thanks.”

It was almost like a weight lifted from Peter’s shoulders. He had known he was nervous for May and Cecelia to meet, but this was something he hadn’t been expecting. Nothing might ever come from Peter’s crush on Cecelia, but still. It was good to know he had May’s approval.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work in progress, so if there are any scenarios or prompts you would like me to explore, please feel free to suggest them. I love hearing from people who are invested in the story. As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter.


End file.
